Reaching for the Horizon
by thefirstservant
Summary: Victoire doesn't like running, but Teddy loves it. A run down the countryside makes her understand why. Written for the Word Limit Competition and the Romantic Drabble Challenge on HPFC.


A/N: Hello there! :)) Glad to see you all. This was written for the first round of Taragh McCarthy's The Word Limit Competition on HPFC. The participant is given a prompt, a word limit, and a few days to write his/her story. :)This was also written for HedwigBlack's Romantic Drabble Challenge, also found at HPFC. The participant is given either one pairing to write five drabbles with, or five pairings, with which he/she writes one drabble each.

As always, prompts can be found below. :) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. :)

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><p>He was impossible.<p>

Victoire huffed her way down the dirt path that led away from the Burrow. She stopped and laid a hand against a tree. "I..give..up. Let's…just…stop. Please."

Teddy looked back at her and laughed. "Oh, come on, Victoire. Running's fun. Besides, it's just a short race." But he obliged, slowing down to a stop before walking back toward her.

Victoire snorted, one hand now holding her aching side. "If..if that was short, I d-don't even want to en-envision what a _long_ race look…looks like."

Teddy gave a grin. "Breathe, Victoire," he admonished gently. "And it's really not that bad. Besides, you're fit and you're a Quidditch player. You've got to be used to running."

"Not like you, I'm not." She shook her ponytail away before looking at her waiting companion. "Honestly, Teddy, what is it with you and running?"

The question was meant exasperatingly so Victoire blinked when Teddy's smile suddenly seemed a little curved at the edges and a strange look flashed in his eyes.

"It's nothing." Teddy's voice was casual. "Caught your breath yet?" He turned and began jogging down the road again.

Eyebrows raised in surprise, Victoire followed him, gravel spinning as she doubled her effort to catch up with him.

It didn't take long. Teddy was no longer going about his usual pace. Instead, his step was now more thoughtful. Victoire slowed down to pace him. She didn't say a word, silently running by his side, breathing in and out. She could wait.

Eventually, Teddy began to speak. "I'm not sure why I like running so much. There's something about it, you know." He paused. 'Something free."

Victoire kept her eyes on the ground that was slipping past them quickly. She concentrated on her breathing. Teddy didn't like people looking at him whenever he had secrets to divulge.

_Breathe in._

"I really don't understand it myself. But ever since Harry took me out for a jog when I was little, I've always loved it. There's something about the…the rhythm in running. And maybe that faint sound you hear when you run. It's like a beat, you know?"

_Breathe out._

"And it's like when you race down a road, you can see houses going past you, you can see the clouds following you overhead. You can feel the wind against your cheek, somehow, and the feel of the dirt when you hit the ground running."

_Breathe in._

'And then there's the horizon. It just makes you want to keep going, you know? Until…until you reach whatever's there. Like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Teddy gave a sudden, deprecating laugh. "Reaching for the unreachable. That sounds like me, doesn't it?"

_Breathe out._

Teddy stopped. Victoire slid to a halt beside him. They were far into the country now, with hardly anything around them. The grass on either side of the road was undisturbed and the wind swept Teddy's hair over his eyes.

He reached up to brush it back before dropping down to sit on the side of the dirt road. Victoire followed suit. Teddy fixed his eyes on his shoes, and then opened his mouth to speak.

"The horizon seems pretty far though, doesn't it?" His voice was a whisper. "Sometimes, sometimes, I wonder…if maybe my parents are over there. It seems far away enough, somehow."

He pauses before leaning his head against her shoulder.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

He didn't say anything anymore after that. Instead, they sit together on the dusty road, just breathing.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

Just breathing. Just living.

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><p>AN: Hope you all enjoyed that! :) I'm not used to writing relatively short pieces, but we were given a limit of 500 words for The Word Limit Competition. We were also given three or four days to work on the story. The prompt given was "Breathe in, breathe out." For the Romantic Drabble Challenge, one of my pairings was Teddy/Victoire and the prompts were "impossible, "race", and "vision". The four other drabbles should be coming along soon so I might add them to this fic to bring it to 5 chapters. :)

Anyway, I really hope y'all enjoyed reading this! :) Reviews are greatly, greatly, greatly appreciated. :)) Thank you very much. See you next time! :)


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